table. With books as her most reliable companion, it was only a matter of time before she decided to write one herself. She has college degrees in biology and nautical archaeology but has always found her sense of adventure most satisfied by a great story.
Parker lives in west Michigan with her husband and four kids. She writes about brave, smart teens trying to figure out who they are and where they belong. When she’s not plotting her next fictional murder, she can be found baking, gardening, tackling DIY home projects, and reading to her kids.
Parker applied the Page 69 Test to Thin Air, her debut YA novel, and reported the following:
If you’re wandering through the bookstore and randomly open Thin Air to page 69, will it give you a good idea what the book is about? Let’s try it. Here’s a snippet of what you’ll read:Visit Kellie M. Parker's website.“Olivia Mitchell. One: My father bought all those awards I’ve received from Lancashire.”Page 69 drops us right into an intriguing scene in which it’s clear that secrets are being revealed about the characters in a public way against their wishes. Of course, from this page alone, we don’t know who these characters are or where the action is taking place, but we do learn a little about the main character. We learn that she’s sympathetic, from her desire to comfort someone else, and we learn that she’s keeping secrets she doesn’t want the others to learn. There’s also the mention of a scholarship committee that will also overhear her secrets if her name is announced. This fact suggests that she and the others are competing for a scholarship, and that they’re currently being observed or overseen in some way by the committee.
She inhales sharply but otherwise stays still, staring at a spot on the floor. “It’s not true.” Her voice trembles.
“Two: My older brother had better grades, more accolades, and better athletic stats than I do.”
“Three: I lied about what happened in the car accident that killed him.”
My heart aches for her, and I shift my weight from one leg to the other to avoid giving in to the impulse to hug her. Somehow, I’m pretty sure Olivia’s pride wouldn’t let her appreciate sympathy.
…
The scholarship is probably the farthest thing from my mind at this moment as the voice pauses between names. Dylan is next, and it’ll be me soon after.
No matter how horrible the others have been, I still don’t want to hear my own name. Don’t want everyone else to hear the truth about me. Or the scholarship committee, for that matter.
“Dylan Roberts.”
And, in fact, all these observations from page 69 are correct. The characters are boarding school students on a luxury flight to Paris, where a private foundation will select one winner for a four-year scholarship to the college of their choice. On the way, someone takes over the audio system on the plane and rattles off a list of secrets they’ve each been keeping, clueing them in that someone on board knows far more about each candidate than they should. The main character, Emily, sees winning the scholarship as her best chance to escape the poverty her family has recently fallen into, so the last thing she wants is for the scholarship committee to find out the truth about her. As the story progresses, things go from bad to worse when students start dying. Emily must figure out who to trust and who is a killer if she wants to reach Paris alive.
While page 69 might not provide a complete introduction to the book, it does give a good feel for the secrets, interpersonal dynamics, and mystery that drive the story. A browser who flips to this page will hopefully be intrigued and want to find out who is torturing these poor characters by revealing their secrets, and whether Emily’s name will be called next. You’ll have to read the book to find out!
Q&A with Kellie M. Parker.
--Marshal Zeringue
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